1 in 3 Florida third graders have untreated cavities – how parents can protect their children’s teeth

“He hides his smile in every school photo,” Jayden’s mother told me, holding up a picture of her 6-year-old son.

I first met Jayden – not his real name – as a patient at the University of Florida community dental outreach program in Gainesville, Florida. Jayden had visible cavities on his front teeth – dark spots that had become the target of teasing and bullying by classmates. The pain had become so severe that he began missing school. His family, living in a rural part…